With the state Senate showing no signs of urgency about the measure, prospects looked dim at deadline for a bill that would have adjusted low-level waste disposal rates and banned storage of high level radioactive waste in the Lone Star.
According to the legislative calendar, Friday was the last day for the state Senate to get S.B. 1046, sponsored by state Sen. Brian Birdwell (R), to the state House floor for passage. The bill is the chamber’s version of H.B. 2692, a proposal authored by state Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R), that failed to pass the state House earlier this month. The bill was kicked back to a House committee after controversy about whether lawmakers were equipped to cast an informed vote on the measure.
The last day of the Texas legislative session is May 31. The legislature meets on a biennial basis and won’t gavel in again until January 2023.
In a May 5 meeting of the state House, Landgraf’s measure was denied a vote on procedural grounds. After a motion from state Rep. Tom Craddick (R), chamber leadership ruled that the bill’s legislative analysis — a supplement that accompanies all legislation — was “substantially and materially misleading” in its explanation of one of the measure’s provisions that appeared to repeal parts of the state health and safety code regarding radioactive waste.
Landgraf said May 5 that the controversial language, which would have removed antitrust requirements for negotiating waste disposal contracts, was “an oversight,” and that stakeholders had previously agreed to the language of the provision. He blamed a “concerted effort” to mischaracterize the measure for the ensuing controversy.
If it became law, Landgraf’s bill would have banned the storage of high-level radioactive waste in Texas. The measure would also have created an interstate cost-comparison program for low-level waste disposal that would form the basis of rebates to waste generators. The goal was to make Texas’ disposal fees more competitive with those charged in other states.
Waste Control Specialists (WCS), which operates a low-level waste storage facility in Landgraf’s district, is currently seeking a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expand the company’s Andrews County, Texas, site to accommodate high-level waste, including spent nuclear fuel from power plants. NRC is currently working on an environmental impact statement for WCS’s proposed site, which the agency has said should be done in the next few months.
